For the second consecutive night, the Israeli occupation forces bombed sites of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza, and tightened the siege imposed on the Strip under the pretext of responding to incendiary and explosive balloons launched towards settlements.
The Israeli Air Force said that it launched raids at dawn today, Thursday, on several Hamas targets, adding that the raids that were used by planes and helicopters included a military compound for the Hamas naval force, underground infrastructure and monitoring sites belonging to it.
A Palestinian security source said that the strikes caused damage to Hamas sites and residences, but did not result in injuries.
The occupation army carried out similar raids yesterday at dawn, which it said targeted underground infrastructure and observation centers for Hamas, also under the pretext of responding to balloons launched from Gaza that lead to fires.
These raids came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Benny Gantz threatened a strong response to the launching of the balloons.
During a tour of an air base, Netanyahu said that the other party would pay a very high price for what he called balloon terror.
Tightening of the blockade
In addition to the military escalation, the Israeli Defense Minister instructed to reduce the maritime area permitted for fishing off the Gaza Strip from 15 nautical miles to eight in response to what he said was the continued launch of balloons carrying inflammable and booby-trapped materials towards Israeli towns in the Gaza envelope.
The Netanyahu government and his partner, Gantz, also decided to stop the entry of fuel from the Kerem Shalom crossing, which was announced to be closed for the same reason starting at dawn Tuesday, with the exception of humanitarian aid and fuel.
The Israeli Fire Service announced that it had dealt within one week with about 100 fires that broke out in several areas in the Gaza envelope.
The Israeli raids, concurrent with the tightening of the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip since 2006, warn of a new round of confrontation between the Palestinian resistance and the occupation.